Tuesday, November 23, 2010

A number of Canada Post employees in Winnipeg walked off the job Monday toprotest a change in the mail sorting procedure.

Canada Post's website says the corporation is undergoing a "postaltransformation," with Winnipeg being the first location where new sortingequipment and delivery methods are being rolled out before the changes areimplemented across the country.

The new, automated way results in postal carriers having to carry threebags along their routes. Under the old sorting method, done by hand,carriers eneded up with two bundles because the sorters were able tocombine flyers with mail destined for each house.

A man who was sorting the mail the old way on Monday at the Wilkes Avenuefacility was suspended, according to Bob Tyre, head of the Canadian Unionof Postal Workers' Winnipeg local.

That prompted 40 other employees at the facility to walk out in solidarity.

"They [Canada Post] suspended him on the spot. And the other carriersdecided that that was the line in the sand and they left, too," Tyre said.

About 60 carriers at the downtown sorting plant then left their jobs forsimilar reasons, but only walked out for about a half-hour, said Tyre.

However, a postal worker on libcom commented: "As of now there are about140 workers on strike by my count, this is not a temporary work stoppagelike the last wildcats in Edmonton, workers are packing their things andgoing home to spend time with their families. Everyone across the countryis keeping in touch about this and watching Canada Post's next moveclosely."

Bob Tyre also noted that seven carriers at the Transcona plant were alsothreatened with suspension for sorting mail the old way. Tyre said the newprocedure is causing an increase in workplace injuries and is slowing downthe delivery of mail.

Carrying the three bags "makes walking treacherous [and is] hard on theirnecks and their backs," he said, adding "there's been a skyrocketingincrease in injuries."

"And [the carriers] have tried to, and the union has as well, talk toCanada Post about the delivery method, how it's causing injuries and it'snot safe and it slows the delivery down on the streets, so they're allworking overtime. They've been working that way now for about six weeks.

"And they've gotten nowhere with Canada Post so they just decided thatthey can't work that way and they went home."